SEOUL, January 23 (AJP) – While the global spotlight is fixed on BTS’s long-awaited comeback and K-pop’s high-profile Grammy ambitions, a very different ascent is unfolding on Korea’s domestic charts — quieter, slower, but no less decisive.
Hanroro, an indie singer-songwriter once known mainly through word of mouth, has emerged as one of the most talked-about new voices of the year. Often described as a “Gen Z rock star,” she has climbed steadily rather than explosively, edging her way toward the top of the charts on the strength of songs that linger rather than shout.
Her track “Landing in Love,” first released last year, entered Melon’s weekly Top 100 in October and continued its slow burn into the new year, reaching No. 2 for the January 12–18 tracking period. In an industry accustomed to instant virality, the song’s rise feels almost old-fashioned — built on repeat listens, shared clips and emotional recognition.
The turning point came last July, when Hanroro appeared on Mnet’s live performance program Live Wire as a featured artist chosen by JANNABI. Her restrained delivery of “Landing in Love” — understated, controlled, and quietly raw — struck a chord. A clip of the performance later surpassed 4.5 million views on YouTube, fueling organic discovery and pushing streaming numbers higher.
The pattern was familiar to those who had followed her earlier. Her debut track, “Let Me Love My Youth,” gained early traction after BTS leader RM shared the song on social media — a brief endorsement that introduced her music to a far wider audience. Since then, a combination of celebrity mentions, broadcast exposure and online circulation has continued to widen her reach, without diluting the intimacy of her sound.
At the heart of Hanroro’s appeal is songwriting that speaks plainly about youth — its tenderness, its bruises, and its quiet resilience. Drawing on her background in Korean literature, she writes her own lyrics, translating the anxieties of growing up, the ache of relationships and the uncertainty of becoming into language that feels both simple and carefully chosen.
Listeners quote her lines, replay her songs, and describe them in personal terms. “Your music always feels familiar, warm and touching,” one fan wrote online. “Let Me Love My Youth,” which uses spring as a metaphor for emotional uncertainty, and “Landing in Love,” a reflection on life after a breakup, have resonated deeply with teens and young adults navigating similar terrain.
The Korean Music Awards has taken note as well, praising her poetic lyrics and restrained rock arrangements for capturing a subdued nostalgia that defines much of contemporary youth culture.
Hanroro’s storytelling now extends beyond music. Her debut novel, JAMONG SALGU CLUB, has drawn renewed attention amid the success of “Landing in Love,” ranking No. 4 on Kyobo Bookstore’s overall bestseller list in the second week of January. An EP of the same title has also gained traction, with the track “0+0” breaking into Melon’s daily Top 10 — evidence that her audience is consuming her work not as isolated songs or books, but as a connected emotional universe.
One reader described the novel as a book that made them cry — and then think about how people comfort one another.
“You may not know it yet. But the more you cry out that you want to live, the more you will begin to want to live,” Hanroro writes in Jamong Salgu Club. A similar gentleness runs through her song “0+0,” which repeats the line, “I won’t abandon you — you won’t either, right?” These are not dramatic statements, but quiet words that stay with the listener. For many young adults in South Korea, where youth suicide rates remain among the highest in developed countries, such lines have resonated as small but meaningful forms of comfort, offering presence rather than answers.
Her rise also reflects a broader shift in Korea’s music industry, where indie artists are increasingly developed with K-pop-style systems.
Hanroro’s agency, Authentic, applied structured training and branding strategies more commonly associated with idol acts, while allowing her creative voice to remain intact. Critics note that her gentle sound, coupled with her work across music and literature, has made her especially appealing to young listeners searching for alternatives to the mainstream.
That growing engagement is visible beyond charts and reviews. Merchandise tied to Hanroro sold out across all items through A0, a production brand celebrating its second anniversary this year — a sign that casual listeners are becoming committed fans, invested not just in songs but in the world surrounding them.
On social media platform X, listeners share lyric excerpts, personal reflections and late-night listening rituals tied to tracks like “0+0” and “Landing in Love,” reinforcing the sense of a shared emotional language.
Hanroro will take another symbolic step on March 21, when she holds a solo concert at Kintex in Goyang — on the same day BTS stages its long-awaited comeback show at Gwanghwamun. It is an almost poetic coincidence: the industry’s biggest name reclaiming the center, while a quieter voice continues to rise just offstage, on her own terms.
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